Russia planning upgraded T-5000 sniper system

Russian small arms specialist Orsis is developing a more powerful variant of its T-5000 sniper rifle in collaboration with movie legend Steven Seagal, company officials have revealed.

Speaking to Shephard ahead of the Defence Services Asia (DSA) exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, a spokesperson said the company’s R&D department was working on a ‘range of prospective projects’.

Specifically, the spokesperson said the T-5000 variant would comprise more powerful cartridges including the .408 Chey Tac and .375 Snipe Tac. Currently, Orsis supplies the T-5000 in .308 Win, .300 Win Magnum, and .338 Lapua Magnum configurations. The T-5000 was first unveiled in November 2011.

According to Orsis, Seagal approached the company announcing a wish to develop a ‘long-range rifle that is able to hit the target at distances of [around] 2.5km’.

Seagal is described as an Orsis ‘brand-ambassador’ and just weeks ago described Russian involvement in Crimea as ‘very reasonable’. Last year, he demanded that the US and Russia become the greatest advocates for peace in the world.

Best known for playing a former US Navy SEAL in ‘Under Siege’, Seagal is also a Reserve Deputy Chief in the Jefferson Parish, Louisiana Sheriff’s Office.

To date, Orsis has sold weapons into civilian and law enforcement markets in Austria, Germany, Italy and the UK, although the company was unavailable to comment on specific numbers. However, the company told Shephard that it is targeting Asia-Pacific because it represents one of the ‘most dynamically developing’ markets in the world.

‘Currently we are negotiating with a number of customers in the region and the participation in DSA 2014 is an impetus for new contracts signing. And certainly we are looking for ways of expanding cooperation in the countries of the Asia-Pacific Region,’ the spokesperson said.

Additionally, Orsis said it was making efforts to penetrate the Chinese market and claimed that there was ‘growing interest’ in South America and the US.